


Together

by Shatterpath



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Gift Fic, Gift Giving, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-14
Updated: 2013-02-14
Packaged: 2017-11-29 07:46:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/684534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shatterpath/pseuds/Shatterpath
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Valentines Day fluff!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Together

**Author's Note:**

  * For [A Magiluna Stormwriter (ariestess)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ariestess/gifts).



> Written yesterday for my partner. Happy V-Day!
> 
> Not betaed and will probably get cleaned up and possibly added to later.

The weather has been completely unexpected. Freak wintry temperatures accompanied by icy rain and high winds are certainly not the way Storybrooke had been expecting to spend it's first Valentines Day post curse.

And my sheriff hasn't been home in two days.

School days are lonely days, but I'll take them over a completely empty house any time. It's been very odd having Henry back, rebuilding a relationship with him now that things have changed. Far odder, has been starting from scratch... with Emma.

It had just sort of... happened. We transitioned from enemies to reluctant allies, then vacillated back and forth a bit, before suddenly, inexplicably... I couldn't live without her.

Because of that, these last two days and nights have been unbearable.

Part of me really wants to help. Despite my past, despite what I did to these people, I really do love this damn town and the storm has wreaked havoc. But I haven't earned the right to be a part of them. I may never earn a place anywhere but in the hearts of my little family.

That is good enough.

My wandering thoughts halt where the doorbell peals through the big house. Who on earth would be at my door displaying actual politeness? Baffled, I approach the front foyer warily, easing down the steps and trying to make out who could beyond the wood and glass.

It's a slender figure, clearly a woman, taller than I, her pale hair catching the cloudy afternoon light. With a cold shock, I realize that I know exactly who it is.

My trepidation isn't feigned as I open the door and stare at the woman I briefly called friend. And, like every relationship until Emma, used like a pawn. I simply didn't know anything any other way. Not until mother and son taught me to love.

"Kathryn," I hear myself whisper, regret making my throat and reawakened heart ache.

"Regina," she murmurs back, voice and expression neutral. This is not merely the worried housewife I had known, her royal past mixed in to create someone new. I haven't been out much and gotten to know the changes to the populace and this is jarring. "May I come in?"

Startled to action, I step aside and close the door after she enters. The quiet is deafening and I find I can't even look her in the eye. Finally, Kathryn sighs heavily.

"Your Emma came to see me today."

Despite my overwhelming guilt and even fear regarding this individual, I have to look up, meeting the pale blue eyes. But I cannot find words.

"She asked for a favor. Well, among other things she said, she asked for a favor."

The faint curl of smile clearly broadcasts the exasperated and affectionate amusement my brash lover often evokes in those of us from formal backgrounds. I know the feeling well.

"She insists that you've changed. And, strangely, I find that I miss you. So, I've come over with a gift and an offer to meet on neutral perhaps for lunch?"

Surely, I didn't hear her correctly. Was that a second chance just offered to me?

A curl of smile, warmer this time, makes something jolt through me, almost completely unfamiliar. I really am not good with people caring about me. It's unstable ground, leaving me unbalanced and more than a little afraid.

When a warm hand lands on my shoulder, it takes real effort to not bolt in terror.

"I'll give you a call in a few days. I'm quite sure your frazzled Emma has some time to make up with you. Poor thing looked exhausted and cold. She asked me to bring you this."

The paper is dogeared and water-stained, looking like something she must have scrounged off the floor of the squad car. But tears flood my eyes at the gesture and I haven't even read it yet!

"Thank you," I can barely whisper around the tightness in my throat and chest. Giving my shoulder a little squeeze, Kathryn pulls out a small cellophane package from her jacket pocket and hands it over.

"A little Valentines gift from Fredrick and I. Enjoy them. Take care, Regina."

Embarrassed by the pair of fat tears that spell down my cheeks, I nod jerkily and watch her calmly leave, still with that small smile gracing her face.

Did that really just happen?

Distractedly locking the door, I retreat to the living room and take a seat on the sofa. With shaking fingers, I smooth the folds in the ragged paper and smile at an even sloppier rendition of Emma's handwriting, clearly scrawled out in a rush.

'Miss you, love you, gonna make this up to you.  
Hugs and kisses -E'

No, it's nothing fancy, but the sentiment warms me completely that she took time to talk to Kathryn and get this sweet little note into my hands. Perhaps I should think more extensively on a surprise for tomorrow that may require a delay in execution. A meal that can be put in the oven while I run a nice, hot bath and perhaps...

This will take some thinking out, but it will be fun... I think.

By the time the school bus blasts its brakes out at the curb, I have a decent mental checklist of possibilities for entertaining my lover and I’m elbow deep in an experimental casserole that I hope my loved ones will like. I haven't had much experience with cheeseburgers, but my twist on them at least has my creative culinary stamp.

"Hi Mom!"

Oh, how I love to hear that.

"Hello dear. How was school?"

I'm regaled with his day while he noses around my workspace before getting a snack. Unlike our combined past, I allow the familiarity, relish it even. When I turn back from washing my hands, there is a package of chocolate cupcakes resting on the cutting board alongside a card made of construction paper.

"From Emma," Henry smiles, gesturing at the gifts. "She came by the school today to make sure we were all okay and asked me to help out. She misses us."

It's preprocessed, crappy junk food and cheesy colored paper and... I love it. 

Henry actually lets me hug him for a good, long time.

While I get my ragged emotions under control, Henry retreats to the dining room to complete his homework. In remarkably short order, he bursts back into the kitchen, nearly dancing with excitement.

"C'mon, Mom, Emma gave me her last twenty to buy you dinner. So, you're stuck with Granny's, but you can be my date and I'm hungry!"

"Okay, okay, give me a minute to put on some warmer clothes."

It's bitterly cold and icy out as we step into the gathering darkness. 

"Brrrr! Good thing we're so close to downtown," I comment, trying for levity and actually earning a smile. "Thank you for taking me out, sweetie."

"You're welcome."

After a chilly, but thankfully short walk to Granny's Diner, we step in and ignore a few odd looks. Though I have to admit it is the most neutral response to my arrival since before marrying Leopold.

"There you are!"

To my astonishment, Ruby looks authentically pleased to see... both of us. 

"Happy Valentines Day. Your girl was in here earlier to grab lunch and left this for you."

It's a sprig of greenery with a cluster of bedraggled pink blooms clinging tenaciously to the end of the short branch. The tattered mess has been set in a coffee mug of water bearing a faint lip print I’ll bet matches my Emma. The poor, pathetic thing looks like it was forcefully removed straight from the plant. Like the other little gifts, I adore it.

All of these lovely reminders are sweet and warming in ways I’m not exactly equipped to handle. With a knowing grin, Ruby escorts Henry and myself to a table towards the back and sets the mug with its precious cargo in a place of honor in the middle of the scarred formica.

My royal trappings, once so important to me, are far away now, little more than memories muddied by insanity and abuse. This life is much better, a raw experience I have to be in the middle of, not remain aloof of.

Henry is unusually chatty and I enjoy his happiness that bolsters my own. I miss Emma terribly, but her scatter-shot efforts and the son we share make up for her lack better than I would have thought. There's another gift from Archie, who pays for my coffee and graces me with a winning smile, and another note from Emma that Ruby hands over after we've eaten. This one is scrawled on the back of what appears to be an out-of-date purchase order and is written in blunt pencil.

'Hey babe,  
Y'know, as this cleanup goes longer and longer, I find myself missing less and less obvious things about you. Sure, I miss your beautiful face and the sound of your voice and how you feel in my arms, but I miss your snarky humor and the sound of your breathing beside me while you sleep. When I get back to you, it's gonna be a long time before I let you go again. Hope all the little gifts get to you and they tide you over until I can spoil you proper.  
Love you, -E'

The welling pressure of tears obscuring my vision would have once been a sign of weakness and I may have killed everyone in this building to protect that weakness. But I am no longer that woman and I force myself to just live with the vulnerability and accept the wet streaks and the smile that comes with them.

Henry also has a sweet little card he made me at school that warms my heart. He makes me laugh when he mockingly complains that he can't compete with Emma making me cry. Later, I'll hug him until he complains for real. We agree to share a fat, sinful slice of chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream to make our dinner a real event. 

A little high on carbs and sugar, my head is buzzing and Henry is just about bouncing in his seat. As has been the case lately, and especially today, I can't hold the childish behavior against him, even laughing at the antics.

When he suddenly lights up with absolute delight, I feel my heart clutch with hope and twist around in my seat to see who just made the bell above the door jingle.

Soaking wet and haggard with exhaustion, Emma has never looked more beautiful. Her face lights up when she sees us, warming me from the soul out.

"Oh, thank god, I made it. You're still here."

Before I can say a word, she's bracing herself on the back of the booth and kissing me like... well, we've been apart for more than two days and the most romantic holiday of the year is more than three quarters over. Everything fades away but the familiar taste of her mixed with stale coffee and bad food. It's reassuring to me as proof she's real and not a hallucination. 

"Oh, Emma, you're shaking."

Groaning, she leans closer, pressing her wet head to my shoulder and kneels on the seat.

"Well yeah, I've missed you like crazy. And I'm cold and hungry and going on my third day of no sleep. Let me get a few calories and some caffeine in me and lets go the hell home.

Home. I like the sound of that.


End file.
